Values education in Halit Ziya Uşakligil's novels

Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil (1865-1945) is one of the leading figures of Turkish literature. In the period of Servet-i Fünun, the author gave successful examples of this genre in the western sense, especially in the field of novels, and thought about theoretical issues. In addition to his novels, it is possible to say that the master writer, who also works in the fields of big stories, small stories, prose poetry, theater, memoirs, travel writings and literary theory, is mostly mentioned with his novels. Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil has eight novels. Four of them are in Izmir (Sefile, Nemide, Bir Ölünün Defteri, Ferdi ve Şürekâsı); the remaining four were written during the Istanbul period (Mai ve Siyah, Aşk-ı Memnu, Kırık Hayatlar, Nesl-i Ahîr). He wrote his novels by adhering to realism and naturalism movements. Although he focused more on individual subjects in his works, he did not ignore social events. The novels of Halit Ziya, who try to convey life and people as they are in his works, are works with rich value content in terms of the subjects they deal with as well as the richness of language and style. Values education has been one of the research areas that has been emphasized especially in recent years. One of the clear objectives of the MEB in the curriculum is to provide students with national, universal and cultural values. In this direction, reading passages and free reading texts in Turkish textbooks are supportive elements for the transfer of values. Literary texts are functional tools in providing students permanent learning through reading and interpretation in the values education process. In our research, eight novels of Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil were examined within the scope of the values included in the values education directive published by the MEB (2019). The author's novels include love (opposite sex, mother's love, father's love, son's love, sibling love), compassion-compassion, loyalty, friendship, cooperation, responsibility, hard work, hospitality, patriotism, empathy, honesty, kindness, respect and tolerance. and it has been determined that he exalts these values. As a result, it is seen that Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil's novels are extremely rich in terms of values education. It is thought that simplified versions of the novels can be suggested to students in extracurricular reading activities or can be included in the texts used in the textbooks. Keywords: Halit Ziya, novel, value, value education.